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Should you be trekking through the thick forests of Magelang, Indonesia, try not to be too alarmed if you stumble upon a titanic, rotting building, shaped like a chicken. Known as Gereja Ayam (unsurprisingly, “Chicken Church”), this mouldering titan was probably whimsical once, but now it seems like the creepy lost temple of a goofy cult.

A law that makes gay sex punishable by public caning took effect Friday in a conservative Indonesian province.

The law in Aceh province stipulates that anyone caught having homosexual sex can face up to 100 strokes of a cane, a fine of up to 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of gold (about $37,400) and imprisonment of up to 100 months. Adulterers are also subject to 100 lashes of a cane, but not to the fine or imprisonment.

Aceh is considered more devout than other areas of Muslim-majority Indonesia and is the only province allowed to observe a version of Islamic Shariah law.

Nowhere in the world are there more Muslims living in one place than in the Southeast Asian island nation of Indonesia, which will be a guest of honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair this fall. Can a cosmopolitan faith assert itself against Islam? A journey.